


Fixations

by AllDolledUpPink



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, UST
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 19:53:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9563927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllDolledUpPink/pseuds/AllDolledUpPink
Summary: Season 2. Aubrey





	

**January 1995  
Coroner’s Office   
Examining Room C**

 

His eyes fixated on the delicate indent of her Cupid's bow. Her lips formed into a slight pout when she was deep in concentration and he knew she was about to deliver a scientific or medical appraisal to counter his theory. Even when they contradicted whatever he came up with, he overlooked that because she brought so much to his work and to his life in general. In fact, he respected her more for being honest and standing up for what she believed in. That all became more than abundantly clear when she was abducted and missing for almost three months. He worried sometimes if his feelings were that transparent.

 

A few nights before their trip, on a taco slash game night with the Lone Gunmen, his fears were incited when their prodding to his relationship with her was continually brought up.

 

“Where's Agent Scully?” Byers had inquired as soon he opened the door.

 

“She's not interested in your social engagements like I am,” Mulder quipped trying to not sound defensive.

 

“It's been awhile since you came for game night,” Langly piped in. "Especially since...”

 

Langly paused not knowing exactly how to continue. The guys were clueless and out of touch when it came to the fairer sex but it seemed even they were aware of how much Scully meant to him.

 

“You seem different around her, that's all,” Byers continued pensively.

 

“Good different,” Langly assured Mulder. "Kind of reminds me of Diana..."

 

“She's my partner,” Mulder responded automatically. “We're not... Scully isn't Diana.”

 

Both Byers and Langly looked down at their feet. Neither of the Gunmen had much experience with relationships and he was grateful he had found a way to end the conversation.  

 

“That's obvious,” he heard Byers mutter to Langly as Frohike walked in with a tray of tacos. 

 

Frohike’s eyes swept around the room before giving Mulder a deflated look. “Where's the delectable Agent Scully?”

 

“She had a family thing,” he shared, trying to sound nonchalant. Of course, he had called Scully and asked if she wanted to come along. He was going to use the pretext of needing her opinion on a random file he chose to end up in her company. When she politely declined, he could have sworn there was a wistfulness in her tone but maybe he was projecting his own feelings. “Her brother and his family are visiting.”

 

The three men nodded in understanding but he couldn't ignore the introspective looks they gave each other. If there was anything else they wanted to ask about his relationship with Scully they decided not to. Also, Byers’ “that's obvious” and what he meant by it kept gnawing at his brain.

 

The conversation was still ringing in his ears as Scully's parted lips rambled about something going on between Detective Morrow and Tillman.

  
  


“Well, the Motel Black would have been the perfect meeting place," she told him as though she had experience in such affairs with a little purse of her lips. "Away from town, away from his wife.” 

  
  


“What do you mean?”

 

She continued to focus on the computer screen. “It's obvious BJ and Tillman are having an affair.”

 

“How do you know?” he asked with a laugh.

 

When he found out last year that Scully had an affair with her instructor at the FBI it shook what he believed about her. She seemed no-nonsense, professional and by the book when it came to her career. Furthermore, Mulder' hadn't picked up on anything between Tillman and BJ and he was the trained profiler of the two of them.

 

“A woman senses these things,” she explained as though women's intuition was as factual as the cells she spotted on a slide under the microscope.

 

Detective Morrow appeared at the door to ask about their progress but just as quickly excused herself out of the room. Mulder and Scully looked at each other.

 

His pulse quickened when their eyes met. He couldn't help but remember how not that long ago he felt like he would never see such an intense blue stare back at him. Without saying a word, she left the room and followed after Detective Morrow. She fully understood what the next step in their investigation was just by the look they just shared. 

 

During her disappearance, his suspicions that his feelings were beyond a professional respect were solidified as he had no doubt in his mind that he would do anything to get her back. The void he experienced without her was darker and deeper than he had ever felt before. He had lost a sister, a sense of family and lovers in the past but this was harder. In such a short amount a time, Scully had become a beacon of light in his bleak and nonsensical life.

 

The realization scared him because her hold on him couldn't be easily pushed away. He found himself quickly becoming dependent on her and he swore he wouldn't go down that road again. However, just the sheer enigma and caring personality that made up part of who she was had him counting the minutes until he could see her or call her without seeming obvious.

 

At the beginning of his work on the X-Files, Agent Diana Fowley was a shoe-in to be assigned as his partner. They met while she was finishing up her training at the academy. Her avid passion for parapsychology and the paranormal attracted him to her immediately. Diana always seemed to be looking for him, coincidentally running into him in the hallway or wanting his opinion on a theory or such. Their friendship and common interests had the potential to transform into something meaningful. He enjoyed having his needs met, physically and intellectually. However, he only wanted to focus on finding Samantha, nothing was more important than that, and Diana must have sensed it.

 

Their relationship ended before their official partnership began. They worked on a few cases on their own time before his transfer request was fulfilled. They had great rapport so he could only assume she was dying to work the X-Files division with him. 

 

“Now, I finally have what I need,” he exclaimed slamming his shot glass on the table. Diana had offered to take him out for drinks to celebrate his new assignment and he was already on his third shot of Bourbon. “The X-Files are going to give me the answers I’ve been looking for. They’re all I could ever want.”

 

Diana smiled and gave him an imperceptible nod. Something in her eyes made her appear distracted as if she knew something that he didn’t. However, his excitement over starting his official assignment as supervising agent of the X-Files got in the way of asking or giving it further thought.

 

He didn't see or hear from her during the weekend and on Monday morning he found a note on the desk of his new basement office.

 

_ “Fox, just like you need to search for your answers in the sky, I need a place of my own to look for mine. -Diana” _

 

From that moment on he became the FBI’s most unwanted and he accepted his assignment and the loneliness and mockery it was paired with. Until Dana Scully walked through the door and turned his world upside down with her scientific facts and skepticism, neatly packed into a cute little buttoned-up suit. He wouldn't have her any other way.

 

“Well, BJ’s pregnant, and Tillman’s the father,” Scully shared as she sat down at the desk.

 

Her woman's intuition proved to be pretty impressive. 

 

_ What does Scully perceive about me? _

 

“Um, I've approximated the pattern of the cuts to match up with the letters,” his brain quickly recovered before she could tell that his thoughts were not completely on the case at hand.

 

They were both engrossed by what the computer screen had to show them. Nonetheless, he took in her scent with her sitting so close. The calming effect of the lavender soap or lotion, he wasn't fully positive of the medium, that seeped from her skin had quickly become a welcomed comfort. 

 

The warmth radiating throughout his belly, a constant reminder of how he truly felt about her, started to elevate his overall body temperature. He wondered if she could feel it permeate through his clothes. If she did, she didn't seem to mind as her proximity was never more than just a few inches away from him.

 

_ Stop it. _

 

Nothing was going to come between him and Scully. He would rather have her as his partner and friend than risk losing her for good. Three months without her was hell, he couldn't imagine more. Relationships were a tricky playing field and Mulder had never been good with navigating the fairer sex.

  
  


Detective Morrow’s reappearance in the room reminded him of the case in point and further supported why he couldn't risk complicating his partnership. BJ’s relationship with Tillman seemed stressed and beyond the point of no return.

 

Besides, it's not like Scully would want to have that kind of relationship with him.  _ Would she?  _

 

Maybe in another time or another life. His fixation to find his sister and work on the X-Files was as strong as ever. At least now, he didn't have to search alone.


End file.
